Better Recycling Planning Needed

December 13, 1989

Just because Delray Beach`s recycling plan collapsed after two months doesn`t mean recycling overall is a failure in Palm Beach County.

Just the opposite is true. Recycling is a major component of the new recovery resources complex near West Palm Beach, and the Solid Waste Authority is serious about recycling as much trash as possible from throughout the county.

The Delray Beach plan was laudable but too ambitious and not planned carefully enough. The first goal was to enlist 1,100 city residents to separate newspapers, glass bottles and aluminum cans for pickup.

This worked well, and the city was making money selling the recyclable material to Goodwill Industries` Jungle Jim Recycling Center. But the city quickly -- too quickly -- expanded the plan to the entire city, and Jungle Jim was swamped.

Instead of three trucks full of recyclable trash each week, the center was inundated with three trucks a day. Jungle Jim couldn`t handle it, especially when a truckload of glass was dumped on the pavement by Waste Management, which picks up trash for the city.

To be marketable, glass must be separated by color -- clear, green and brown. Waste Management had no way to separate the glass, so Jungle Jim manager Pat DiFaro was forced to divert most of it to the county`s recovery resources plant.

DiFaro could make no money from glass if he couldn`t sell it, so he understandably ended his working relationship with the city. The recyclables will be taken to the recovery resources plant and will be recycled. But instead of earning a projected $15,000 a year from Jungle Jim, the city will get nothing. Processing costs at the recovery plant mean the county cannot pay for recyclable materials.

A lesson should be learned by Delray Beach: Next time, plan more carefully. One reasonable choice would be to ask citizens to separate cans and newspapers, but not bottles. The market must be studied closely to make sure the material can be presented to buyers in a form they will accept.

Residents who participated conscientiously in the plan may feel the city didn`t keep its part of the bargain. It may take a while for the city to win back the confidence of residents who may feel their efforts went for naught.